Everything Michigan....

[wardfamily1]

Has anyone noticed how the parking lots at the malls and stores like Walmart/Meijers are not jammed packed? The only packed parking lots I've seen are at the dollar tree or last Friday at Kohls (night owl) sale. Other than that, its definitely not crowded like usual with Xmas shoppers. You can tell a lot of Michiganders are cutting back due to the horrible economy.

I did notice today. I went to Walmart and I expected it to be unbearable, but it wasn't crowded at all. It was nice for my shopping experience, but it's sad that so many people just can't afford Christmas shopping.

 

[1gr8mouse]

Hello fellow Michiganders! We need to stay in a hotel for an 8:00am flight at Detroit Metro in 10 days. Do you know of a good and inexpensive hotel we could stay and leave our car? TIA!

We stayed at the Baymont (north of I94) and it was fine...parking lot is not fenced in (if that is a concern).....I think it was around $100. The Fairfield is very good, further west of Metro though...., The Laquinta is new and is approx. $90. Go to Tripadvisor.com and it will show a lot of reviews for Romulus hotels.....AVOID the Days Inn, Comfort Inn...dumps

Be sure to get a quote for a park n fly rate.....they limit the number of those, usually.....if you get just a room then pay for parking at check in they will charge you approx. $15 a day for parking...

I dont ever book with the internet travel agencies....(why pay them a fee??) find the rates then go direct to the hotel websites.....or call the hotel direct.

I flew in to Metro today and used US Park for my vehicle..it was $45 for 4 days and 3 hours....with a AAA discount.....for your trip it would be approx. $75 for parking.....so spending $100 for park n fly is a good deal IMO.

 

[JanDave]

We often stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Belleville. Your park in your car in back of the hotel (well lit). The shuttle to the airport is about a 10 minute ride. Very nice hotel.

Jan

 

[floridafam]

Congressman Pete Hoekstra said that he won't run for another term and may explore running for Governor.

The article mentions that Candice Miller and Terri Land are also thinking of running.

Uh, Terri Land for Governor????????

 

[WDWMom]

Has anyone noticed how the parking lots at the malls and stores like Walmart/Meijers are not jammed packed? The only packed parking lots I've seen are at the dollar tree or last Friday at Kohls (night owl) sale. Other than that, its definitely not crowded like usual with Xmas shoppers. You can tell a lot of Michiganders are cutting back due to the horrible economy.

The boys and I were in Home Depot last week and I think we were the only ones. It's very sad.

 

[WDWMom]

Oh my! I'm sooo sorry to hear about the house burning down. How tragic. Yes on the bright side thankfully no one was hurt or killed.

WOW 25K for a 5 bedroom 3 bath house is a wonderful deal!! You can't beat that price. I hope things work out . I like Macomb county. I live in Wayne county but we always travel to Macomb County (Lakeside mall area) for shopping. Friends who live on the east side (Sterling Heights area) always say we need to move to the east side .

I grew up in Macomb county. Loved it there! My parents still live in Sterling Hgts along with my brother. Love shopping at Lakeside. You can find whatever you need there.

 

[WDWMom]

Congressman Pete Hoekstra said that he won't run for another term and may explore running for Governor.

The article mentions that Candice Miller and Terri Land are also thinking of running.

Uh, Terri Land for Governor????????

I told DH about 6 months ago that Hoekstra would be either running for Gov. in 2010 or president in 1212. He is our state rep. and I really like him. I know a lot of people are unhappy with him because he said he would only run for 2 terms and I believe this is his third. It doesn't bother me, people change their minds in politics all the time. I also like that he is not a lawyer or a career policitian (at least not yet).

 

[shy little mouse]

Hi, I lurk on this thread sometimes. We are from the west side on Lake Michigan.

WDWMom, Hoekstra is our rep too (we live in the same district!). I like him and have always voted for him (big shock in our Repub county, lol). However, he cannot ever run for President; he was born in the Netherlands and came to the U.S. as a preschooler. I do think he would make a great governor, and I really hope he runs. I think he probably will.

I don't really blame Granholm for the mess our state is in, but I don't think she really has done anything to help, either. I certainly never voted for her, but living in Ottawa county, I can't say many people I know did. It is really sad to see what has happened to our state. If we could sell our house, we would probably move, as I am sure my husband would have much better career opportunities elsewhere. He still has a job, but his company has gone through many layoffs since 2000, and who knows what the future brings for the office furniture industry.

ETA: If he does decide not to run for governor, I would love to see him run for a Senate seat. It would be nice to take Levin or Stabenow out of the mix. IMHO Levin has been there way too long. Yes, another repub rant, lol.

 

[floridafam]

Hoekstra does seem like a nice person. My parents live in the Kent/Ottawa County border but I'm not sure who theri Rep. is. It might be Ehlers.

The thought of Terri Land as Governor is just so funny. I can't see it.

 

[WDWMom]

Hi, I lurk on this thread sometimes. We are from the west side on Lake Michigan.

WDWMom, Hoekstra is our rep too (we live in the same district!). I like him and have always voted for him (big shock in our Repub county, lol). However, he cannot ever run for President; he was born in the Netherlands and came to the U.S. as a preschooler. I do think he would make a great governor, and I really hope he runs. I think he probably will.

I don't really blame Granholm for the mess our state is in, but I don't think she really has done anything to help, either. I certainly never voted for her, but living in Ottawa county, I can't say many people I know did. It is really sad to see what has happened to our state. If we could sell our house, we would probably move, as I am sure my husband would have much better career opportunities elsewhere. He still has a job, but his company has gone through many layoffs since 2000, and who knows what the future brings for the office furniture industry.

ETA: If he does decide not to run for governor, I would love to see him run for a Senate seat. It would be nice to take Levin or Stabenow out of the mix. IMHO Levin has been there way too long. Yes, another repub rant, lol.

I live in Ottawa County too. Grew up in Macomb and from a family of Dems, but I am the odd one. Most of my family works/worked for Chrysler so they are all union Dems.


I did not know Hoekstra was born outside the US, too bad. I totally agree with everything you said. We did not vote for Granholm, nor can I understand how she got re-elected. She has done nothing to help out state. In fact, DH was reading an article in Sunday's paper how little she has done. The next 2 years can not go fast enough til she is gone. Thank goodness she was born in Canada and can't run for Pres. I also think Levin needs to go. Talk about a lot of hot air. He's been in office since 1979 and should have left 20 years ago. If it wasn't for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties he never would get elected again.

 

[Tricia819]

So, I was driving down Saginaw Street the other day and saw a sign that said, "Williamson for Governor". Talk about crooked politicians.

 

[wardfamily1]

Congressman Pete Hoekstra said that he won't run for another term and may explore running for Governor.

The article mentions that Candice Miller and Terri Land are also thinking of running.

Uh, Terri Land for Governor????????

IF that were to happen, I think Candice Miller would wipe the floor with Land in a primary debate. I met the both of them a couple of years ago at the Romeo Peach festival. We were all in the parade together and we had a lot of time before the parade started to talk to the people in our group. As you know, first impressions are EVERYTHING! Terri Land was a class A witch (with a B). She acted like she was just too important to be bothered with us commoners. On the other hand Candice Miller was just as nice and polite as could be. She stood with DH and myself for quite a while and we had a lot of small talk. She even talked to DH about when she quit smoking several years ago (because DH was trying to quit at the time). She's a wonderful lady and incredibly smart too! I'd support her for governer in a heartbeat.

 

[#1hockeymom]

So, I was driving down Saginaw Street the other day and saw a sign that said, "Williamson for Governor". Talk about crooked politicians.

His cars to preachers (so the preachers tell their flock who to vote for) program won't work past Flint. Thus, no one will vote for him outside of Flint. THANK YOU GOD!

 

[RangerPooh]

Does anyone have any snow left in their yards? Ours is all gone! We finally found our inflatables that died a week or so ago. So now our x-mas decorations are just about put away. However the ice and fog have not been too nice. I almost crashed and burned in the parking lot of B&N last night (amongst other places ).

 

[1gr8mouse]

Does anyone have any snow left in their yards? Ours is all gone! We finally found our inflatables that died a week or so ago. So now our x-mas decorations are just about put away. However the ice and fog have not been too nice. I almost crashed and burned in the parking lot of B&N last night (amongst other places ).

Nope, snow is all gone (but I live in BC too). I am bummed because my niece and nephews are here from NC and I was supposed to take them sledding today.....
Frday was really bad for ice.....wrecks everywhere......
How was your trip didnt you go to the world recently???

 

[RangerPooh]

Yeah, just before Thanksgiving. It was a great trip. The drive wasn't too bad and we were excited about the lower gas prices than we had expected DD3 got to pull the sword from the stone too. She was extremely excited about that!

I understand the lack of sledding. DDs haven't had their fill of playtime in the snow yet. But I heard that we might get some snow today, so we'll see what comes.

 

[wardfamily1]

Our snow is almost all gone, just a couple of heaps left from where we shoveled. What's strange is the grass is SO green. I thought it would have stayed that wintery pale during this short warm spell.

 

[WDWMom]

Most of our snow is gone too. Just the piles where the plow piled it. Ice is melting our lake too. We actually have open water along the beach.

 

[3Leafs]

It was so beautiful here yesterday. Now its so windy you can barely walk in it. Last night was horrible. It woke my husband up that can sleep through ANYTHING. I know the little bit of snow we did get it was so cold out that my kids couldn't even play out for long.

 

[RangerPooh]

We have large oak trees in our front yard and we found numerous branches in our yard this morning. They range from twigs to 3 inches in diameter, all came down due to the wond. We had to remove them before we could leave our driveway as there were some that I didn't want to chance driving over.

Speaking of driving over, OMG some of the potholes that we passed along are deep There's a huge one at the mall in front of Don Pedro's (?)! Now that one can do some serious damage!